The protagonist in A Spinster's Tale is a young girl named Elizabeth. Elizabeth lives with her father and brother after her mother passes away. The narrator tells the story of her encounters with a frightening drunk old man called Mr. Speed. Elizabeth recalls when her brother first started coming home drunk when she was little. He began drinking when he was sixteen. Her brother's inebriation frightened her because she knew he would "burn" for it. She remembers her mother telling him that she would rather see him in the grave than in that state. When her brother was drunk he seemed sillier to her. He would bounce up the staircase, giggling. It made him seem like he was Elizabeth's age. In contrast, Mr. Speed terrified Elizabeth. Drunken, he would stumble past their house on Church Street two or three afternoons every week.

Elizabeth is named...